DROOL

Seriously, this is like crack for me!

I was so excited when I went home for lunch and saw all these books waiting for me! paperbackswap.com is my new drug. You list the books you have that you are finished reading and don’t want to read again and if someone wants your books, you mail them out. For every book that arrives, you get one point which can then be used to pick up someone else’s books. If you are mailing out books, you pay the postage and anyone who’s mailing you books pays the postage on their end. It’s a great system.

You can do the same thing with movies their sister site – swapadvd.com, and to make it even better, you can transfer the points you get from movies to use for books, or vice versa. And if you have a sister who’s moving out of her apartment and has tons of movies she no longer wants and doesn’t want to deal with them and gives them to you with no strings attached, you are in heaven with all the books arriving at your door. Amanda, thank you and I will be thinking of you as I read all these treasures!

Now, I just need to find a way to earn money while reading books because I have to tell you, working 8-5 is cramping my style here!

THE THIRTEENTH TALE by Diane Setterfield

This is by far one of the best books I’ve read in a really long time. The story draws you in and doesn’t let go. The characters stay with you long after you’ve put the book down, and, if you’re anything like me, you are furious with yourself when you finish because you want it to go on and on.

This is Diane Setterfield’s first and only novel to date. There is talk of a new novel coming next month – I hope so because I love her style. I would recommend The Thirteenth Tale to everyone. Seriously, don’t miss this one!

Gratuitous Cat Shot

PS, I LOVE YOU by Cecelia Ahern

I just finished reading PS I Love You by Cecelia Ahern and I’m torn. I liked the story and, while I didn’t always like the characters, they were well thought out and very realistic. But the writing was … the only description that comes to mind is immature. The book would have benefited from some judicious editing because, among other things, there were a lot of repetitions. Ahern described the girls’ favorite eatery several times, using almost identical language each time. Really, I don’t need it more than once. Sloppy writing frustrates me to no end.

I thought about trying another of Cecelia Ahern’s novels, to see if the writing had matured at all. As with many books, this volume included several chapters from one of her upcoming books. Again, the premise was interesting, but it took her five chapters to get to the point and I found myself mumbling “edit, edit, edit!” to myself.

I wonder, am I being too bitchy? Am I just in a foul mood and taking it out on the book I’m reading at the time? Or, more realistically, am I just too tired to appreciate it? And then I started reading this book

The Thirteenth Tale

and I can physically feel the words wrapping themselves around me as I fall in love with good writing all over again!

GRATUITOUS CAT PICTURE!

THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE by Steig Larsson

The Girl Who Played with Fire is not an easy book to read. There were parts that made me cringe. Not as much as the first book in the series, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but enough to make me realize that there are some seriously sick people out there. There is cursing, there is violence, there is brutality. Despite that, I really liked the book … a lot. Amongst all this inhumanity, there are good people. They’re not perfect but they stand up for those in need, even if indirectly. I like that Lisbeth Salander has a clear sense of right & wrong.  She doesn’t believe in grey areas and she’s not about to back down on her beliefs just because society tells her hers is a simplistic way of looking at life.

I got confused with the names a few times. What I thought were surnames turned out to be places and it would throw me for a second. However, my biggest problem with the book was the ending. SPOILER ALERT – IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON READING THE BOOK, SKIP THE NEXT PARAGRAPH ….

Salander makes a great protagonist – she’s intelligent and rebellious, getting away with things I only wish I had the guts to attempt. But she’s not superwoman. I was really upset when she was shot and buried but I was okay with that ending. To have her come back, dig her way out of the grave with only one arm and a bullet in the brain was a little unbelievable.

AND WE’RE BACK…

Stieg Larsson died in 2004 just after handing in the manuscripts for his three novels. I’m interested to read the third one, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest and see how it all ends.

GRATUITOUS CAT PICTURE!

GARDEN SPELLS by Sarah Addison Allen

Last year, as I read about books on blogs, if I thought they sounded intriguing, I jotted down the title in my iPhone. At Christmas, when people asked what I wanted, I emailed them my book list. Many of the titles I’d completely forgotten but I knew something about them had to have sparked my interest when I noted them. By the end of the day, I had a lovely pile of books just waiting for me to (re)discover. Garden Spells caught my eye immediately with its apple green cover

The blurb on the back of Garden Spells states “In a garden surrounded by a tall fence, tucked away behind a small house in the smallest of towns, is an apple tree rumored to bear a very special sort of fruit. In this luminous debut novel, Sarah Addison Allen tells the story of that enchanted tree, and the extraordinary people who tend it.”

I enjoyed this book a lot because the story line caught my interest and I got wrapped up in the characters. I always enjoy books more when I like at least one of the players and, in spite of their faults, the women of the Waverly family drew me in. Claire, the older sister, runs a catering service who is known for using flowers and plants in her dishes. She is the home-body, desperate to feel like she belongs somewhere – anywhere. Sydney is the younger sister, the one who couldn’t wait to get out and be on her own, living on the edge. When she returns to the small Southern town of her youth, she brings the next generation of Waverlys with her – her daughter Bay. And then there’s Evanelle,  Sydney and Claire’s elderly cousin, who also lives in the town.

Each of the Waverly women has a “power” – something that influences the way others think/feel/act. Claire uses the plants & flowers from her garden to enhance the dishes she creates for her catering service. Sydney, once she realizes her own profession, helps others feel better about their appearance and themselves. Bay knows where things, and people, belong. And Evanelle periodically feels the urge to give her family and neighbors things (batteries, a blouse) that might not make sense when received, but will be needed later on. They are an interesting bunch!

I think Sarah Addison Allen will grow as a writer. There are parts of the book where I wanted a little more depth in the story, in the character backgrounds, just overall. I am in the middle of her second book now and I plan to continue reading her work. It’s just that there were parts where the book felt a bit thin.

THE INDIGO KING by James A Owen

Last January, I signed up for a lot of book challenges with the best of intentions. Since I’ve always got a book in close proximity, if not open in front of me, it seemed like a perfect fit. And for the first few months, I was on top of everything – rating the books, linking back to all the blogs, and writing my reviews. Then … life got in the way, as it is wont to do and I got so backlogged that it was  so much easier to play ostrich and let everything slide to the point of no return.

This is not to say I stopped reading (bite your tongue!) No, I kept reading but didn’t keep track of anything and now I can’t remember what I read and when. I want to keep better track this year, so I’m going to be a little bit easier on myself. If I expect nothing, think of how happy I’ll be when I actually do post about books. I’m going to list the books I’ve read and whether I like them or not. I’m not going to worry about linking to other blogs or figuring out if the book I’ve read fits with challenges or not. Just keeping it simple this year. I’ll continue to read book blogs, because I love getting ideas of what to read next from them.

So, here we go … the first book I finished this year was The Indigo King which is the third book in The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica. The basis of this series is that there are not only atlases of known lands in this world, but  also maps of imaginary lands, kept all together in the Imaginarium Geographica. It takes a certain type of person to be the caretaker of the Imaginarium Geographica because one of the duties of the caretaker is to travel back and forth to these imaginary lands, caring for the people that live there and making sure the two worlds (real & imaginary) don’t overlap.

Although these books are geared towards young adults, I’m enjoying them quite a bit. How can you not like a book whose title is Here There Be Dragons – first in the series. For me, part of the allure is the ability to cross into imaginary lands. There are many times I’d like to leave my hum-drum, responsible life for something a little more magical.